Federated Farmers: Land distribution key to farming sector

A review into use of land for housing is being considered.

A review into the use of land for housing by the aptly named Productivity Commission needs to ensure the broader impacts of its final recommendations are considered.

The Commission's review is welcome and timely. In key areas of the country, property prices have risen to the extent they are a concern to buyers and policy makers, particularly in the main centres, with widespread impacts.

The focus is on how the by-laws, processes and practices of council planning and development systems work, or don't work, specifically in respect to providing land for housing. In other words -- very much a land supply focus.

Clearly this is a key factor. As the Commission's Issues Paper notes, land supply has to keep up with demand. However, a key consequence of the review's focus on supply is that the questions around the type and location of housing we're demanding go unanswered.

Another consequence is that any findings from the review will impact on the alternative uses for the land we theoretically should be building more houses on, including our agricultural productive capacity.

That is a particular concern in relation to greenfield development, or the development of housing land from land currently used for primary production.

Given expanding populations, our reliance on primary production export earnings, and national objectives to increase the value of primary exports by 2025, potential loss of productive land is no small concern.

Thanks to the efforts of the farming sector, the loss of land to date has been offset by better on-farm productivity and processing, or value add. The primary sector has been a front runner for producing more, from less.

It can't be assumed that farmers and processors can take up the slack if further large tracts of currently productive land is made available for housing.

At the same time, council regulations impact on what farmers can and can't do on their farms. Flow on effects impact farm values, council rates and infrastructure costs, and farmer land use decisions, including the capacity to subdivide or continue producing.

It's important the Commission's review recognises these implications. It's a complex issue with significant implications for New Zealand's economy.

Federated Farmers welcomes the review. However, there is a risk that if the review comes up with some 'easy answers', it may not have considered all of the relevant questions.